How Many Israelis Lived in Gaza Before 2005? 8,961 at the Evacuation
8,961 people in 1,530 households lived in Gaza’s Israeli localities at the 2005 evacuation, on Prime Minister’s Office data the Comptroller reported.
The Gaza area’s Israeli localities held 8,961 people in 1,530 households when they were evacuated in August 2005, on Prime Minister’s Office data that the State Comptroller reported in March 2006. The count is the Prime Minister’s Office’s own, of persons living in the localities the evacuation covered, and it is the only person count in the audit. Eight months earlier, in December 2004, the head of the SELA administration estimated about 1,500 families in the same localities.
| Figure | What it counts | Who published it | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8,961 | Persons living in the evacuated Gaza area localities | State Comptroller, from Prime Minister’s Office data | At the August 2005 evacuation |
| 1,530 | Households in those Gaza area localities | State Comptroller, from Prime Minister’s Office data | At the August 2005 evacuation |
| 221 | Households in the evacuated northern Samaria localities | State Comptroller, from Prime Minister’s Office data | At the August 2005 evacuation |
| 1,751 | Households across both evacuated areas, Gaza and northern Samaria | State Comptroller, from Prime Minister’s Office data | At the August 2005 evacuation |
| About 1,500 | Families in the Gaza area localities, an approximate planning estimate | State Comptroller, citing the head of SELA | December 2004 |
| 896 | Evacuated families in temporary-housing centres, not all evacuees | State Comptroller | 1 September 2005 |
8,961 people in 1,530 households lived in the Gaza area
The State Comptroller reported 8,961 persons in 1,530 households living in the evacuated localities of the Gaza area. The audit cites Prime Minister’s Office data for both numbers, so both are the Prime Minister’s Office’s own count of residents at the point of evacuation. The audit uses the Hebrew term חבל עזה, the Gaza area, for these localities.
The audit’s unit is the household, בתי אב, which it then also calls families. It names Neve Dekalim as the largest of the localities designated for evacuation.
The scope of the evacuation comes from the 2005 disengagement statute. The Knesset published the Disengagement Plan Implementation Law, 5765-2005, in the official gazette on 18 February 2005. Section 1 sets out its first purpose as “the evacuation of Israelis and their property from the Gaza area and from an area in northern Samaria, in accordance with the government’s decisions.”
| Item | Figure or name | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Persons, Gaza area | 8,961 | Residents of the evacuated localities |
| Households, Gaza area | 1,530 | Households, which the audit also calls families |
| Largest locality designated for evacuation | Neve Dekalim | Named in the audit, with no population given |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, March 2006. The person and household counts are the Prime Minister’s Office’s own.
The 1,751 evacuated households include 221 from northern Samaria
The State Comptroller recorded 1,751 households in all the evacuated localities, on Prime Minister’s Office data: 1,530 in the Gaza area and 221 in northern Samaria. The two parts add to the printed total. The 1,751 is a count for the whole disengagement, and only the 1,530 belongs to Gaza.
The statute names both areas. Section 1 of the Disengagement Plan Implementation Law covers the Gaza area and “an area in northern Samaria”, and Section 2 defines “Area” as each of Judea and Samaria and the Gaza area. The northern Samaria localities sit in the West Bank, whose current Israeli population is a separate count.
| Area | Households | Persons |
|---|---|---|
| Gaza area | 1,530 | 8,961 |
| Northern Samaria | 221 | Not given in the audit |
| Both areas | 1,751 | Not given in the audit |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, March 2006, citing the Prime Minister’s Office’s own count at evacuation.
The audit gives no person count for the 221 northern Samaria households. No total of persons evacuated across the whole disengagement can be stated from it.
SELA estimated about 1,500 Gaza families in December 2004
The State Comptroller reported that in December 2004 the head of SELA estimated about 1,500 families living in the Gaza area localities. SELA is the administration whose handling of the evacuated residents the audit examines. The figure is that administration’s own planning estimate, given in families and rounded, and it is the earliest reading the audit records.
The estimate and the Prime Minister’s Office count are different measures. One is an approximate estimate of families made eight months before the evacuation. The other is the Prime Minister’s Office’s own count of households and persons at the evacuation. They are not one series, and the gap between about 1,500 and 1,530 is not a change in population.
| Reading | Unit | Date | Whose figure |
|---|---|---|---|
| About 1,500 | Families, estimated | December 2004 | Head of SELA, as quoted in the audit |
| 1,530 | Households | August 2005 evacuation | Prime Minister’s Office’s own count |
| 8,961 | Persons | August 2005 evacuation | Prime Minister’s Office’s own count |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, March 2006.
896 evacuated families were in temporary housing on 1 September 2005
The State Comptroller recorded 595 evacuated families in temporary-housing centres on 18 August 2005 and 896 on 1 September 2005. These are families housed in the centres on two dates. They are not a count of all evacuees, and the audit does not split them between the Gaza area and northern Samaria.
The two readings sit on the same measure and come from the same audit, so they form a short series. They are not a share or a remainder of the 1,530 Gaza households or the 1,751 households overall. They may not be added to or subtracted from either.
No Israeli body here publishes a count of the Gaza localities
The two Israeli records used here give no number of Israeli localities in the Gaza area and no total population for the Gaza Strip. The State Comptroller’s audit refers to “the evacuated localities” and names Neve Dekalim. It does not enumerate the localities.
The Disengagement Plan Implementation Law defines what the evacuation was for, not which localities it covered. Section 1 refers to the government’s decisions for that, and the law does not list the localities.
- The audit publishes 8,961 persons and 1,530 households in the Gaza area. These are the Prime Minister’s Office’s own count at evacuation.
- The audit publishes no count of Gaza area localities.
- The audit publishes no total population for the Gaza Strip in 2004 or 2005.
- The law names the Gaza area and an area in northern Samaria, and publishes no locality list and no population figure.
Without a total population from these records, no share of the Gaza Strip’s population can be stated from them.
Which figures here may not be added together?
No two counts on this page may be added or subtracted across units or dates. The 8,961 persons and 1,530 households are the Prime Minister’s Office’s own count at the August 2005 evacuation, relayed by the State Comptroller. The about 1,500 families is the head of SELA’s approximate estimate from December 2004. The 595 and 896 are families in temporary-housing centres on two dates. The 1,751 households include 221 in northern Samaria, and the audit gives no person count for them.
Questions readers ask
Who counted the Israelis living in Gaza in 2005?
The State Comptroller reported the count in its March 2006 audit of the disengagement, citing Prime Minister’s Office data. The 8,961 persons and 1,530 households are therefore the Prime Minister’s Office’s own count of residents of the evacuated Gaza area localities.
How many households lived in Gaza’s Israeli localities?
The State Comptroller reported 1,530 households in the evacuated Gaza area localities at the August 2005 evacuation. The figure is the Prime Minister’s Office’s own count. The audit also calls these households families.
How many families lived there in 2004?
The State Comptroller reported that the head of SELA estimated about 1,500 families in the Gaza area localities in December 2004. That is the administration’s own approximate planning estimate, in families rather than persons.
Which was the largest Israeli locality in Gaza?
The State Comptroller named Neve Dekalim as the largest of the localities designated for evacuation. The audit gives no population figure for Neve Dekalim itself.
How many people were evacuated in the whole disengagement?
The State Comptroller recorded 1,751 households across the Gaza area and northern Samaria, on the Prime Minister’s Office’s own count. The audit gives a person count only for the Gaza area, 8,961, so no person total for both areas can be stated.
How many households were evacuated from northern Samaria?
The State Comptroller recorded 221 households in the evacuated northern Samaria localities, on the Prime Minister’s Office’s own count. The audit gives no person count for them.
Which law authorised the evacuation?
The Knesset passed the Disengagement Plan Implementation Law, 5765-2005, which the official gazette Sefer HaChukkim published in issue 1982 on 18 February 2005. Its Section 1 covers the evacuation of Israelis and their property from the Gaza area and an area in northern Samaria.
Did the law cover compensation?
The Disengagement Plan Implementation Law states four purposes in Section 1. They include fair compensation from the State Treasury, assistance with evacuation and moving, and the relocation of groups of settlers and settlement cooperatives.
How many evacuated families went into temporary housing?
The State Comptroller recorded 595 evacuated families in temporary-housing centres on 18 August 2005 and 896 on 1 September 2005. These are families in the centres on those dates, not all evacuees.
Does the audit say how many Israeli localities Gaza had?
The State Comptroller published no count of Gaza area localities in the audit. It refers to “the evacuated localities” and names only Neve Dekalim.
Does the audit give Gaza’s total population in 2005?
The State Comptroller published no total population for the Gaza Strip in the audit. Its only person count is the Prime Minister’s Office’s own count of 8,961 residents of the evacuated Israeli localities.
Is the 8,961 a Central Bureau of Statistics figure?
The State Comptroller attributed the 8,961 to Prime Minister’s Office data. It is that office’s own count of persons living in the evacuated Gaza area localities at the 2005 evacuation, as relayed in the audit.
When did the evacuation take place?
The State Comptroller’s audit examines residents evacuated from the Gaza area and northern Samaria in August 2005. The temporary-housing counts it records run from 18 August to 1 September 2005.
Sources
- Knesset, 2005. Disengagement Plan Implementation Law, 5765-2005 (חוק יישום תכנית ההתנתקות, התשס”ה-2005). Sefer HaChukkim 1982, 18 February 2005, p. 142. https://fs.knesset.gov.il/16/law/16_lsr_299869.pdf. Official or primary record, statute as published in the official gazette.
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2006. Audit Report on the Disengagement: Issues in the Activity of the SELA Administration; Preparation of Local Authorities and Absorption of the Evacuees. March 2006. https://library.mevaker.gov.il/sites/DigitalLibrary/Documents/special/special_2010-2006/2006-Hitnatkut-Mar2006/2006-Hitnatkut.docx. Official or primary record, state audit report.
